KING Island has welcomed a new player in the fraught Bass Strait shipping game. Bass Strait Freight Pty Ltd will join TasPorts-owned Bass Island Line and Warren Dick’s Eastern Line Shipping in providing shipping and freight services to the island. Their ship is also able to carry passengers. The company intends to provide links to Devonport and to Apollo Bay in Victoria.
The entry of a new player into the King Island shipping market is a major development, and follows months of acrimony between the island community, TasPorts and the State Government over the cancellation of the triangular service to Tasmania and Victoria and continuing high freight prices.
Last year, in response to concerns, the Transport Minister Michael Ferguson agreed to establish an inquiry into the existing service but many were disappointed when they learned that it would be undertaken by the Economic Regulator with very narrow terms of reference.
In 2021, South Australian David Harris purchased the assets of the Furneaux Freight business and vessels and in 2022 commissioned a new Bayles-built vessel, Matthew Flinders IV. Bass Strait Freight currently provides freight and passenger services between Lady Barron Island and Bridport Tasmania.
“We are still waiting on Tasports to approve our access to the Devonport ROR0 wharf,” Mr Harris said. “Thereafter we will run a service from Devonport to Grassy to start our King Island business.
“As soon as possible, we intend to move the operation to a regular service to Apollo Bay from Grassy to mirror the service we currently operate between Lady Barron and Bridport using a relatively small ship over the shortest distance integrated with a road transport leg.
“Apollo Bay is a holiday town without the services normally seen in a regional centre,” Mr Harris said. The Victorian Government had designated a $16m upgrade of the port facilities over the next few years.
“For the King Island service, we will consolidate freight at Geelong and Colac and truck freight down to Apollo Bay to be loaded onto our vessel.
“This will allow export freight to be delivered to the Port of Geelong and containers to be back loaded from a depot there, with general freight.
“Colac is on the major regional freight route between Melbourne, Geelong, Colac, Warrnambool, Portland and Mt Gambier. It makes sense therefore to consolidate fridge, frozen and general freight there to be containerised and bought to Apollo Bay for transhipment to the Island.
“Our vessel is rear loading with forward superstructure providing protection from the weather so vehicles and equipment can be carried in relative shelter, compared to front loading barges. We also carry 30 passengers in a saloon above the cargo deck. We run the only coastal freight vessel in Southern Australia that carries passengers. “The obvious thing to do is expand our proven marine freight system into the King Island market.
“The Apollo Bay Port has not been [previously] considered as the natural gateway to King Island, when the route halves the sea distance between Melbourne and Grassy and is a quarter the distance between Grassy and Melbourne via Devonport. “The Bayles vessels are uniquely designed to operate in small ports, maximum draft is only 2.5 metres.
“The Matthew Flinders IV has been designed to carry up to 200KL of diesel in tanks below deck leaving deck space for lighter cars and vehicles.
“We operate a fuel distribution business on Flinders Island in parallel to our freight business. Once the King Island-Victorian link is re-established, we hope to replicate this service on King Island.
“We are planning a weekly service once the freight volumes increase and I believe we can halve King Island’s freight costs.”